How to reach out to a recruiter
Recruiters and hiring managers are the key people who look after employment. They will be the person you will want to reach out to when submitting your application, to follow up with or emphasise why you are the best person for the role. However, you may not always get the response you are looking for. Or you may not get a response at all. Here is the answer to the question: How to reach out to a recruiter?
The most common complaints from job seekers are that no one gets back to them and messages get unanswered. If this happens to you, you are not alone. There is nothing that anyone can recommend that will guarantee a message back but there are a few steps you can take that will increase your chances of getting a reply.
Don’t take silence personally
If a recruiter or hiring manager has not got back to you, don’t take it personally. Recruiters and hiring managers have a lot on and like any professional with a large inbox of emails, they may not always be able to respond to each message.
Get straight to the point Once you understand that you may not get a response, it is important to think about how you might. Spending time thinking and planning how you might go about it, will help set you off to the foot. Recruiters or hiring managers may check their LinkedIn messages or emails during short breaks or between meetings. So, sitting down to write a response to a long message, that asks general questions, may not be feasible for them. Being direct in your message will clearly say what you are about and what you are open to eg. ‘You’re open for a role we are needing to fill, you think you would be a great fit, a attached my CV and a call to action’. You have to be specific when making your case for the job. They want to know specific skills that will make you perfect for the role. It’s also important to end with a call to action, such as a question that won’t take too long to answer. Once you have sent your message it is ok to follow up twice.
Always reach out
You should always try reach out to a recruiter or hiring managers with a well though out message. It can help move you up the list of candidates for the role. For a job that gets 300 applicants, maybe only 10% are good enough. If you get into the top candidate list, you will only be competing with 30 people instead of 300.
Reach out to others
Don’t limit yourself to just messaging the recruiters or hiring managers. Many people go straight to the top. There can be a lot of power in internal referrals. You can reach out to people who are doing a similar role to the one you want or people who are a couple of years ahead of you and send them your details. If you can make a good impression with them, they may forward your details or documents on the HR team or recruitment.
While you are job search and CV writing, you find that you could improve your skills or are looking for a career change. Free2Learn has courses in key industries to help you get back into work. We provide extra support for employment and wellbeing too. Go to: free2learn.org.uk/courses to find out more.Â
